Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

17 reviews

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Stalking

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Incest

jupiter_01's review

funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I would've read this in one day if I could, but I also didn't want it to be over! The novel features a group of oddball people who become friends, all while keeping secrets from each other. It continuously kept me guessing, and in the end I wasn't right!

I enjoyed the two narrative structure. I laughed and smiled and genuinely thought some moments between the couples were cute, which made it even more suspenseful to know someone/s was hiding the truth.

The only thing that didn't quite work for me was the ending. It was abrupt and I was left unsure how to feel.

I read one analysis that Leo is ultimately a mirror of his real life counterpart, which I can accept and like, but even so, it felt ill-paced.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Stalking

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Child abuse

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Medical content, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Torture and Rape

Minor: Racism and Sexual content

chaotically_katie's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It had so much potential, and it’s such an interesting style of writing. But the lack of focus on the murder victim, and the main plot point of the scream, really disappointed me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Torture, Stalking, Murder, Drug use, Cursing, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Rape, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Domestic abuse

pollyhall's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Blood, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

the_rainydayreader's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexual content and Rape

rachelunabridged's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

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This book kicked off in a really compelling way, but sadly, that's all it really had going for it. The plots crawled along at barely a smolder that never managed to build themselves into a burn, slow or otherwise. You may have noticed that I said "plots". It's not a typo; this story has a dual plot situation going on that, while interesting in theory, was just not executed very well, in my opinion.

There was a line in this story, around the point when I was starting to wonder if anything was going to happen in this book, that got me thinking I might have been duped by picking it up.

"We dress our stories up with murders, and discussions about morality and society, but really we just care about relationships."

It kind of speaks for itself. Basically, this book promises you a murder and mystery, but doesn't really deliver on either of those things in a satisfying way because it's more focused on the developing romance between characters.

As someone who doesn't enjoy reading romance, I didn't like being tricked into reading a romance disguised as a murder mystery. I would have been able to tolerate it if it wasn't at the expense of the rest of the plot, but it definitely was. The mystery didn't really feel fleshed out, and the solution was easy to guess, even early on in the book.
To make matters worse, for a book about relationships, the characters were okay at best. They all felt very cookie-cutter to me, and I found it hard to connect with any of them.

If you're looking for a romance novel with some peripheral mystery/murder, this might be for you. However, if you're looking for a who-dun-it that'll leave you guessing until the end, I don't think you'll find this book very satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Stalking

Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Sexual content